Elmidath sat on her bed, facing away from me. I couldn’t help but notice her room was much nicer than mine. I suppose it was one of the perks of being a noble, an existence far beyond a lowly commoner like me.

“How’d it go?”

I told her what happened, leaving out most of my conversations with Korzan. I didn’t want her to think I was getting too friendly with Lord Sarinknell’s soldiers. “Who do these Tertiums work for? Another Demon Lord?”

Elmidath nodded. “Probably. It sounds like they were acting under orders.”

It was as I’d thought. “Is the Demon Lord controlling them also a Tertium? Or are they a Primis like you?”

“Hard to say for sure. Territory changes hands so often between the various warlords out there, it’s hard to keep track.” She sighed. “And it’s been a while since I had much news about what’s happening out here. No one tells me anything now.”

I realised there was something off about the young Demon Lord, she was withdrawn and sullen. And she refused to face me. Had she suffered another loss of heart? Or… I circled around until we were facing each other. She looked down but there was no hiding her cheek. It was blistered and red. “What happened?” There was no need to ask who was responsible, I wasn’t that stupid.

“There was a…” she swallowed, hand going to her face though she stopped short of touching it, “disagreement.”

“What about?” I could already feel anger building within me, like a hot ball in my stomach. Maybe I’m a male chauvinist but doing something like that to women didn’t sit well with me, especially when they were practically still a child.

“I don’t want to talk about it. If there’s nothing else you need, I suggest you go back to your own room.”

I stood there, hoping she’d change her mind. Wasn’t there something we could do to get out of this situation? Something I could do? Even if I’d survived my first task, it felt like we were bound to end up dead sooner or later. Much sooner if Lord Sarinknell decided we weren’t useful.

But as the seconds ticked by Elmidath said nothing and I left the room. I would have liked to offer her comfort but she didn’t seem like she’d appreciate pity in the slightest, it would probably only make her feel worse. Better that I pretend nothing had happened, so that she might retain some shred of pride. It didn’t seem like she had much else to keep her going.

I went to my room as suggested and slept. The next day came but there was still nothing for me to do. Elmidath didn’t send me any telepathic messages or show her face, so I let her be. I was confident she’d contact me once she was feeling better or if she had something important to say.

Wandering the grounds of Lord Sarinknell’s holding, I was struck by how subdued and empty it felt. There were only a handful of soldiers and servants combined in this place built for several times their number. Perhaps Elmidath wouldn’t have to worry about taking over her father’s estate. At this rate it would be reduced to nothing before she had another chance to seize it.

Had Lord Sarinknell fucked something up to end up in such dire straits? He seemed like a reasonable, intelligent sort compared to the other demons I’d met so far. Perhaps that was his weakness. But more likely being a Demon Lord meant you had plenty of competitors.

You certainly couldn’t rely on the loyalty of your own troops, I’d seen firsthand how easily they’d turn on their masters given half a chance. It made me wonder why they didn’t all use creatures like the Tertium instead if they could be bound to one’s will. Surely it couldn’t be because of any sense of morality. I hadn’t seen much of that in my time here.

The humans of this world may be better but my experience with them consisted solely of them trying to kill me, so I didn’t have too favourable an impression. With nothing else to do other than brood over things I couldn’t control, I sought out Korzan. I don’t know if I’d say we were friends but we did share a certain rapport. At least in my mind. I can’t say I understood too much of how she thought. Even if we got along, she still seemed alien to me.

I found her wandering the grounds, much as I had. She didn’t have her armor or weapons with her today, just a pair of trousers and a blouse. They’d seen better days but I thought it was a good look on her. Seeing that she hadn’t spotted me yet, I called out to her. “Hey.”

She turned and smiled. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

“Not much. Are you busy?”

“Nope. Why?”

“I was thinking we could chat, there’s not much else to do around here.”

She shrugged. “Fine by me.” Finding a clear spot, she sat down and patted the ground beside her.

I plopped down next to her, though not too close. A thought occurred to me as I sat down. Korzan seemed like she had little reason to reason to stay loyal to Lord Sariknell, was there a chance she’d join our side? It was worth a try; an ally could make all the difference when it came to getting out of this alive. We sat there for a little while, starting into space, before I spoke. “What do you think will happen to this place?”

Korzan frowned “What do you mean?”

“I might have the wrong impression, but it seems to me like things are going badly for Lord Sarinknell.”

“Well duh, I’m pretty sure anyone could see that. What about it?”

I took a breath, thinking of how best to phrase things. There was no point trying to be subtle, I wasn’t much good at it and demons seemed like a brazen bunch overall. Maybe she’d appreciate my candor. “Have you thought about changing sides?”

“Changing sides?” she laughed. “And who do you think would take in a lone, traitorous soldier?”

I swallowed, this was the moment of truth. “What about Elmidath?”

“His niece? How would throwing in with her help me in the slightest?”

It was a good question. Elmidath was undoubtedly the less powerful of the two. Had I been offered a choice between the two when I first came here, I would have undoubtedly picked Lord Sarinknell, it was just the safer bet.

But my current situation being what it was, I’d have to convince her to settle for an objectively worse option. “Think about it, Lord Sarinknell has suffered one disaster after another. A large portion of his forces were wiped out by just me and his niece. Think of how much she could accomplish with more.” I recalled her arrangement with Lord Biustarn. “Not only that, she has the backing of another Demon Lord, one of the third circle.”

Korzan raised an eyebrow at that. “If she has such a powerful ally, then where is he? She should have had no trouble taking Lord Sarinknell’s position if this other Demon Lord really wanted her to succeed.”

“He’s not willing to help us much, not yet. The condition for his assistance was that Elmidath take the title herself, only then would he make a formal alliance.”

“I can’t say you make a very compelling argument.” My heart sunk, had I lost her already? I wasn’t sure there was much else I could say to sell her on the idea. She shook her head. “But you seem earnest enough. And it’s not like I’ve got a lot of other options. Fine. Whatever you two are planning, I’m in.”

My mouth fell open. She’d agreed? So easily? It was unreal. Just how reckless could demons be? “That’s great. I’ll talk to Elmidath about it tonight and see what we can come up with.” I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get much out of Elmidath at the moment but now wasn’t the time to mention that. No sense shaking her confidence when I’d only just won her over.

Standing up, she nodded. “Alright, let me know what you decide.”

I sat on my own for a while, digesting what had happened. It was hard to believe things had gone so smoothly, in fact it made me suspicious. Was Korzan a spy? Or planning on betraying us somehow? It would explain why she’d reached out to me in the first place where none of the other demons had.

But to what end? I couldn’t imagine Lord Sarinknell had much of a need to spy on us when he already had such effective insurance of our loyalty. Maybe that was just how cautious he was, it was hard to say. I felt like I could trust Korzan, but it would be best not to give her too much information. Not until we could be sure of her loyalty. As to how we’d figure out if she was loyal…I’d have to ask Elmidath about that.